Halo: War and Peace
by StevieJr
Summary: This is the third installment to the Halo series I am doing. Havn't read the other two? I Highly Recommend you do. Summary: Karl will go through challenges he never thought he would face, he goes through hardships in war and in peace.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

**Hello all, this is a sequel to my sequel. What. Exactly, Enjoy it, if you have not read my previous two stories, I highly recommend you do just that, Halo: Helljumper and Halo: Alliance. This story will be less about the touchy feely and more like what war is like for Karl. Just like Helljumper.**

Karl and the platoon he was in were moving along a thick jungle. To him it wasn't a big deal, but he couldn't stop hearing the complaints coming in at a constant rate, it was hot and humid sure, but that doesn't mean verbally complain in his book. They had been doing operations for months now, usually patrolling on once glassed UNSC planets, making sure they were safe for recolonization, this was a special occasion. They had found a new planet and were currently patrolling it to see if they could find any possible Covenant activity, especially since it has been too long since Karl had some purple blood all over his uniform.

"Fuck man, it's so hot out here." Karl stopped and turned and looked at the person who had said it. "Parker, for the last time shut your mouth before I gag you with my boot." Karl said quietly but fiercely. He just heard a sigh from Parker as they kept walking. Karl ran into a couple of bushes, all of them ending up just some leaves on the ground after he tore them apart with his bare hands. Most of the platoon thought he acted tough, but they have not seen him fight in combat yet. The 'act he was putting up was 100% real, and he would not deny himself he did seem like a stereotypical sergeant.

Karl momentarily stopped and looked around letting the rest of the platoon pass him. His armor letting off a slight glint as the sunlight passed through the think jungle canopy. He chambered his Battle rifle, he was getting a funny feeling in his stomach, and he never liked when that happened. He looked around the jungle only seeing more green, maybe some yellow and a bit of red, some blue. 'Wait blue?' Karl thought as he got on comms. "L.T. Stop the platoon. We are being followed." Karl said through the radio. He looked back and saw the platoon stop and all take a knee. He soon followed suit and kept a close eye on the blue color.

Soon he heard quiet footsteps behind him, "What is it Sergeant?" He heard the Lieutenant's voice come from the helmet. "Yellow, red, and blue." Karl said putting the emphasis on the blue, "Not once have I seen blue in this shitty jungle." Karl ended pointing at the blue color so Lieutenant Stevenson could see it. "Yah, I see it, let me take a looksy." Stevenson then took out some rangefinders from his side pouch and looked toward the blue object. "Well, well, well... I am glad you shut Parker up or they would have seen us." Stevenson said as he put it up.

"It is a brute and probably his squad. I am going to tell command this isn't a safe planet and needs to be prepped for full military action. Good spotting Kuhn." Stevenson said as he patted his shoulder and ran off down the column towards the front where his radio operator was at.

Karl kept an eye on them and saw himself they didn't even know they were there. But what would the covenant want with this shitty planet? Karl didn't know but he had a feeling it was for deeper intentions, but he was ready for anything.

After a few minutes he got a transmission through his com. "Kuhn take a team and eliminate those hostiles. Be ready to fight a Guerrilla war against these bastards, I have been waiting a while to finally operate." He heard Stevenson say, "Yes sir, I agree completely." Karl said as he patched himself into the normal troop frequency not higher ups.

"Sherry, Laroche, Clark, and Garrison, to the rear and come to me, we have a mission." Karl said into the com. He got an affirmative from 4 different voices. He heard the footsteps and turned to face them as they approached.

"Alright, covenant team, probably the same size as us which means easy win. Form a line on me, combat spacing." Karl said as he began moving, he looked to his left and right and saw that they had formed up as he said and were now about 10 meters apart from each other. All moving slowly and carefully but also almost in step with him. This is why they were his favorite to be around, they were proper soldiers.

They moved through the jungle and got closer to the blue, then he could see a figure coming into shape. It was clearly a brute, easy to take down if you focus fire on them or if you hit them in the face with a 50 caliber round. Then more figures came into shape and soon it was an entire squad, or maybe even something larger. There was the 1 brute about 8 grunts and even a couple jackals with needle rifles. this fight was easy for Karl but he had to see what these people were capable of. He noticed they were in clearing in the jungle, perfect for a landing zone, to land troops and supplies onto planet, similar to the one they landed at to get where they were. It was circle in shape and was about 50 meters across, that meant this landing zone was perfect for a phantom to land and resupply. Karl got an idea.

"Laroche I know you have a launcher, come to my pos." Karl said as he sat and waited patiently. He heard the footsteps to his left and he looked as Laroche approached. There might be a phantom landing soon, as soon as it does you better have that thing ready to nail it." Karl said as he searched through the backpack on Laroche's back. "What are you doin sarge?" Laroche asked in his calm french accent voice. "I am loading AA missiles, to make sure you don't miss." Karl said as he grabbed the rocket pack. He opened the latch to load and launcher and quickly loaded the Anti- Air missiles into the launcher. "Be prepped and ready, on my signal." Karl said. He watched as Laroche grabbed the launcher and put it on his shoulder, leaning against the tree for extra support.

Karl sat patiently on the other side of the tree his hand on it as he leaned in for a closer look. Then he could see the beacon on the ground letting a light purple light off of it. 'Perfect timing' Karl thought as he stopped leaning on the tree and put his hand back on his rifle. He moved over to the side of Laroche and waited. After a few minutes of silence they heard the engines of the phantom approaching the landing zone. Karl looked up to see it was hovering right over the squad of covenant. "Prep it Laroche." Karl said Laroche nodded and put his hands on the grips, ready to fire at any moment.

Karl put a hand on his shoulder. "Wait for it..." He said quietly. The phantom was now about 5 meters off the ground. "Now!" Karl quietly yelled and laroche let the two missiles fly quickly they both hit the target spot on with the guidance system. One hit the cockpit and sent the phantom flying backward, the other hit the direct side. Plasma flames and purple scraps of metal went flying all over the place. Karl then witnessed the phantom smash into the ground near the squad. not a second after it slid across the ground and swooped the squad off their feet.

"Now we move in, get your SMG ready Laroche." Karl said as he moved forward and got on comms. "Begin assault, move carefully, but quickly." Karl said as he broke the jungle into the clearing and moved towards the wreckage. He moved along the side of the phantom and saw the blue and purple blood smeared along the ground, it had littered the short grass and dirt. He looked at the skidmarks and could see some covenant bodies under the dirt trail. Exactly his plan.

He moved to the door of the phantom and took a charge he carried in his backpack. He put it on the door and ran towards the large dip in the ground where he could take cover. He noticed something catch his eye as he went prone, to see the terrified face of a dead Jackal, tongue hanging out the side and half the skull crushed. Karl let a disgusted look creep onto his face but calmed down as he saw his squad approaching.

"Good work Laroche, I am impressed." Sherry said as he took cover next to the Karl. All of the others did the same. "Alright since Garrison has the MG he will stay here and cover us as we move in." Karl said as he unholstered his energy sword and prepped it. "Alright, be ready."Remember, Laroche, Clark, and Sherry with me." Karl said.

He put his hand on the detonator and clicked the button. The explosive let loose it's giant flame ball and Karl watched as purple metal went flying hundreds of feet away. "Move!" Karl shouted as they ran forward. He could hear their footsteps with his as they ran forward. Karl hopped up into the phantom and he could hear the others doing the same. As he looked around he could see the ragdoll like bodies of the dead covenant. Two brutes, about 10 grunts, and two jackals. Also he saw the large crates that slid to the opposite side of the phantom. As he neared one of the bodies it moved. It was a jackal, it appeared to open it's eyes and begin to panic. Saying things in it's language that Karl couldn't understand.

"Get that crate off him." Karl ordered, they all looked at him for a second. "Did I fuckin' stutter?" Karl said as he stared at them. They quickly lifted the crate that was holding down it's leg. Karl quickly walked forward and picked it up by the throat. It's attempts at escape being scratching his armor, but it could do nothing with claws. Karl turned and walked out of the Phantom. Jumping down to the ground from the high up door. "Prep explosives, I want this thing in flames." Karl said as he kept walking back to their position in the dirt crater from the impact of the phantom.

"Looks like you got us a prisoner." Garrison said and chuckled a bit. "Not for long." Karl stated plainly as he threw it to the ground. He could tell it looked scared. "You just lettin it go?" Garrison asked. "No it can't move, broken leg." Karl said as he crouched next to Garrison and watched as the team exited. "Explosives prepped Sarge!" Sherry yelled. Karl nodded, "Get back over here." He said as he turned on his energy sword. Garrison looked over, but looked away as Karl made eye contact with him. The team made it back over to them and all took cover.

"Blow it." Karl said as he went prone. "Fire in the hole, boom, boom, boom." Sherry said as he clicked the button and the giant explosion engulfed the entire vehicle. Only scraps flying all over the place and flames could be seen. shrapnel landed nearby but didn't enter the crater.

"Alright, now I am going to have a little chat with our friend here." Karl said as he walked over with his activated energy sword. "I know you understand english, so don't play dumb with me. It seems all you bastards know english." Karl said as he crouched in front of the terrified jackal. "Don't worry, I know you little guys have feelings too. All I know you are fighting for the wrong side." Karl said as he deactivated his sword. "The covenant destroyed our race. What we built. They probably did the same exact thing to assimilate you guys. For this so called 'Journey'." "You thought we were a weak and insignificant species. Well your shitty prophets were wrong. Look who won." Karl said harshly, so do you still believe in this 'journey'? Or will you join the side that will let you guys be free. Free your planet and allow you to do what you want." Karl said more softly.

The next moment he saw the jackal spit on his visor. After briefly wiping it off he looked back over to it. "Absolutely mindless. No wonder the sangheili are much smarter to join the human side then you are." Karl said. He picked it up by it's throat again. "Sorry buddy, nothing personal." Karl said softly as he activated his energy sword and stabbed it into the chest of the jackal. The brief screech being cut off by the sound of burning flesh. Karl pulled the sword out and deactivated it, reattaching it to his belt.

"Alright let's rejoin the platoon. Our mission here is complete." Karl said as he started walking towards the way they came. "Form column." He said.

 **This is short because it is the prologue, not because I am lazy, there will be much longer chapters in the future.**


	2. Chapter 2: Jungle Firefight

**I have to apologize for such the long wait. It has been a crazy year. Lot's of shit to do, but here is the chapter I hope you all enjoy because it is going to be a long one. I hope to update more often in the future and just remember I love all my loyal fans and readers.**

As Karl and his team walked back to the platoon he saw maybe the largest amount of Phantoms he had ever laid his eyes on. He swear he counted over 100 and it could have been probably even more. After seeing the huge amount of Phantoms fly over he immediately got on comms. "LT we have a slight problem. We got over 100 phantoms flying all over the planet I just saw a whole flock of em fly over our heads." Karl said as they all got as low as possible. "Solid Copy Sergeant. I will alert the Viper immediately." He heard the Lieutenant say. Karl continued to walk his current path making sure to look at any glint or sudden movement throughout the jungle.

"Alright ladies and gentleman we have returned to our lovely platoon." Karl said as he took up position at the rear of the platoon again. "All of you go back to your spot in the formation well done." He said and nodded to them as they went back to their spots in the large formation. Taking a deep breath he turned to look at the rear and could faintly see the large smoke stack from the burning covenant vehicle. "Sergeant Kuhn, up front." He heard the Lieutenant say in comms. "Solid Copy sir on my way." He said in response and started moving through the formation to get to the front.

He saw the Lieutenant in the front of the formation with a holo map out and his distinguishable large radio backpack he carried and the large double stripe on the top of his helmet to symbolize his rank as an officer, and also the white shoulder pad he had. He quickly got to the side of the Lieutenant Stevenson. "Okay Sergeant I need you to listen to me carefully. I have hypothesized that they have more landing zones similar to the one you took out. These Phantoms will be dropping troops for miles and then return to a ship that the Viper says is most likely on the other side of the planet to avoid it's scanners. After the phantom drops it's troops I am guessing they are going to move to a rally point. Maybe on one of the large clearings in the area. I can guess they are going to start construction of a base there so they can further recon the planet." Stevenson said very clearly and seriously. Karl nodded. "God it sir, but what has this got to do with me?" Karl asked. "Well Sergeant you are my X-O if I get killed I want you to know the game plan and what the situation is." He said in response. "Right my bad sir." Karl said.

"Okay Sergeant, you can return to your spot. Make sure those two idiots that always talk shut their mouths." The Lieutenant said clearly. "Yes sir." Karl said and then immediately afterward moved low back to the back of the formation. As he approached the rear he could already hear two marines chatting. "Well, I thought that Becky girl was a real hottie." One said. "You two, shut up before I cut your tongues." Karl said harshly to them. "My apologies sergeant." One said and then he looked away from his friend and back to the sector he was supposed to cover.

Karl got to the back and took a knee back in his spot waiting for the signal to continue their advance towards their objective, which Karl guessed would be a full fledged Guerrilla war against the covenant because they in no way had the manpower to fight 100 Phantoms that on average carry 10-20 soldiers depending on the size of the soldier being carried. He had to admit, after being a pretty lucky guy to be a bad ass constantly he was worried not only for his own safety but the safety of ever man and woman in the entire platoon. Karl however had to be prepared for anything and he sure as hell was prepared to fight more covenant since he despised them completely.

"We are moving everyone on your feet, but keep cautious and low." He heard the LTs voice over the comms. Karl stood up and kept a low profile stance as the rest of the men got up in front of him and started to move, when they all got about 5 meters in front of him he started to move as well, making sure he checked behind him before he got up and left.

They walked through the jungle for another couple hours, that was when the light started to disappear and become dark. But they continued on through the dense jungle, Karl having to pull out his knife every once and a while and cut a long vine or root that gets stuck around his leg as he goes along. He admired the Jungle since he never saw it often, on all the planets he had been on in the past it has been a temperate planet or area on a planet, it was his first time in a full fledged jungle and he loved how it was so green. Despite the heat the jungle was wonderful to him as much as white snow covered tundras.

Karl heard a sound that broke him from his thoughts. It was the sound of gunfire. And a hell of a lot of it. He could hear the sound of Battle rifles firing bursts and Assault Rifles sending their large amounts of ammo into the distance. He stopped and so did the men around him. That is when he spotted the plasma flying past his head. He quickly ducked and dove into some brush. He looked up over the bush he was in to see men all along the line firing into the forest to their left. So Karl looked to the left and saw over 30 covenant forces, jackals to brutes and grunts.

Karl then quickly took cover behind a nearby tree prepping his Battle Rifle. He made sure it was chambered and he quickly clicked the safety off. He took aim at a grunt that was on the flank of their formation. He switched the BR to single fire and let a round loose, the bullet smacked the grunt in the side and he saw the blue blood shoot out both sides, signalling the bullet cleared his body. He didn't even hesitate to watch it fall as he took aim at the next target, a jackal that was firing it's plasma pistol from behind a shield. Karl aimed at it's head and fire. The bullet hitting it in the head and causing half of it's skull to explode into several different pieces. Next he aimed at a grunt that was running towards the platoon with a fuel rod cannon. He quickly shot the grunt in the side and the bullet instantly put it down.

It wasn't long before he was spotted by several grunts and they all fired at him with their weapons. Karl quickly took cover behind the tree as he heard the plasma hit the tree with a hiss. He looked to his right and saw several purple needles fly past the tree and into the distance of the dim lit jungle. After the fire halted he popped out again and his face dropped as he saw a giant furry fist hit him in the side of the head. He fell back onto the ground and quickly looked up to see the Brute Captain start to raise it's gravity hammer towards Karl. Karl quickly turned on his shield and rolled out of the way the best he could. When the hammer hit the ground Karl felt the impact and then felt him be lifted off the ground and fly a few meters before slamming into a tree.

He coughed from the impact and got up again. He took the energy sword from his side and turned it on. The Energy sword making the loud hissing noise as he turned it on. The Brute seemed surprised but charged towards Karl. This is why he loved fighting brutes, they were careless, but he wasn't. As it charged towards him he could see several soldiers who finished off their targets turn to shoot the brute. "Don't fire, you might hit me." Karl said quickly and he saw them keep their guns up but not fire.

The brute was now only a few feet away and Karl quickly rolled out of the way of the angry giant beast. He turned his head in time to see the brute slam into the tree and snap it off of it's base. The brute in obvious pain roared and tried to turn towards Karl. At this moment Karl charged forward and sliced the brute's leg. It let out a howl and kneel'd down. Karl then saw the large fist come at him, but this time he met it with a stab from the energy sword. The energy sword easily cutting through the armor and flesh, especially when the brute was adding to Karl's momentum with it's swing. Karl took the sword out of the Brute's arm and swung it down as hard as he could. He could hear the hiss and then the sound of the brute roaring as it's arm was cut clean off.

It let go of it's gravity hammer and it fell to the ground. Karl then quickly sent the energy sword into the Brute's chest and held it there with the constant sound of burning flesh and armor alike. The Brute having gone wide eyed as he was stabbed in the heart. After a few seconds the Brute began to lean and Karl pulled the sword out of it's chest. Watching as it fell to the ground with a loud thump. Karl deactivated the sword and put it back onto his utility belt.

He didn't feel it until now but he felt a large pain on his ribs. He looked at his HUD and saw that he had large bruising but nothing major. Karl let out a grunt as he turned and walked back to get his rifle. At this point all the gunfire had ceased and he walked cautiously but with some relieved tension back to where his rifle was. It was then he noticed it was gone, the gravity hammer must have sent it flying into the jungle when it hit the ground. Karl let out a sigh as he took the magnum from his side and chambered a round into it.

"Everyone okay?" He heard the Lieutenant's voice over the comms. "Sir, Peacock is hit sir." He heard a panicked female voice over the comms. "Where on the line?" Karl asked. "Center." The voice said. Karl double timed it to the front of the line and soon reached there. He saw several of the soldiers gathered around a figure on the ground. He moved towards the group. "Everyone who isn't a medic! Watch your Fuckin' sectors!" Karl shouted to them. He saw everyone but the female soldier that was probably on the radio go back and take cover behind trees or logs.

Karl kneel'd next to the soldier and he saw the corpsman covering up the wound on the soldier's chest. "What's the wound?" Karl asked as he took out some bio foam from her backpack. "A plasma rifle hit him in the chest, most likely internal bleeding and third degree burns." She said quickly and held open the wound so he could put the bio foam in. The wounded soldier breathing heavily and seemed to be crying, as he could hear the whimpers and sniffs. "This will hurt, suck it up bud." Karl said as he positioned it over the wound and pressed the trigger the bio foam entering the wound and filling it up. The soldier screamed in pain as the bio foam filled the wound. "Alright it's good patch him up doc." Karl said as he put the foam back into her backpack. She nodded and started to bandage up the wound as Karl got back up and ran to the front of the line to talk to the Lieutenant.

When he got there he saw him with bandages around his shoulder. "Sir you alright?" Karl asked as he crouched down next to him. "Fine and dandy. Needle hit me in the upper arm." He said. "So what the fuck happened?" Karl asked. "Well you see sergeant, we were just strolling through the jungle and assholes ran right into us, we guessed another platoon doing the same fucking thing we were. What the hell is the likely hood of that happening?" The Lieutenant questioned himself. "I dunno sir but it's totally fucked. We only had one badly wounded, you also. So technically we did really fucking good." Karl said. "Yeah I guess you are right Kuhn. But we need to find a place to set up camp for a while." He said. "Of course sir, we could probably go a few clicks away from here." He said as he got back up to his feet. "Good Idea, stay here with me please you obviously have better eyesight and I don't want to run into more." He said as he put a hand on Karl's shoulder. "Of course sir." Karl said in response.

The LT soon got on the comms, "We are moving everyone on your feet." He said seriously. Soon he was walking in a random direction and Karl followed close behind.

After walking for about an hour in the pitch dark they finally found a small clearing to make camp in, with a few logs and trees nearby so they could take cover if need be. Karl made his rounds making sure everyone was comfortable and ready for anything, he heard a few soldiers talking about his fight with the brute and how he apparently 'kicked it's ass'. He didn't mind the men talking about him, if anything it kept their morale up that he beat the shit out of a brute.

Karl made his way to an isolated spot under a tree and took his helmet off. He put it down near the tree and used it as a make shift pillow as he looked up at the sky. His mind drifted.

He couldn't fathom how much he missed all of his friends, and especially his alien lover. He started thinking of how him and Soya met and how their relationship advanced from a business style partnership to a friendship and to an actual relationship. He thought of Brandy and how they were once in a relationship but remained best friends. Then the spartan he had befriended. He had seriously missed Leo, because he could relate to him often, both of them being soldiers. The one he missed the most however was Soya. He wanted to see her again to make sure she was safe and sound, he had put his trust in Brandy and Leo to protect her. A task he was very hopeful they would accomplish. But he wanted to be there personally, to be able to hug her or kiss her again. To feel her rough but smooth skin. He didn't know what kind of future they had together, or how human tradition would match Sangheili. But he knew he would want to advance his relationship with her, one day. But now he had to focus on staying alive in this peaceful jungle planet turned warzone.

After he was able to clear his mind his eyes slowly closed and he fell into a deep sleep that no one could wake him from until morning when they had to move out again.

 **That was the next Chapter. I expect this story to go on for a while. However updates may be slow. I am so sorry for that, but I really hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope all of you have a good day/night. And I really do hope I never forget about this awesome series that I have written for about 8 months now. Wow can't believe it's been that long since I started haha.**

 **Love,**

 **Stevie**


	3. IMPORTANT UPDATE

**Hello loyal followers. I'm not dead.**

 **I am just going to put a quick message out there that this story is not forgotten, and neither are any of my other stories. I have been really busy lately with the end of the year coming around and I have to put literally all of my time into school. The year is almost over though (thank god) and I will be able to get a new chapter up and running! The new chapter is in the works and will be released sometime this month. Possibly May 25th, it is in progress, and don't worry it will be a long and special chapter, I am hoping to make it over 7k words. Well, this was the message.**

 **I love all of you, thank you for being patient!**

 **Stevie.**


	4. Chapter 3: Paralyzed

Karl slowly opened his eyes to the dim lighting of early morning. He let out a gentle yawn and sat up, his first instinct to look around and check his surroundings. He looked to his left and his right, and scooted around and looked behind himself and then in front. He then got up and stretched then walked over to his platoon. He looked around at all the sleeping soldiers and saw that a private was awake. He then recognized the private as Private Brandon Fergus, a good kid in Karl's opinion.

He walked over and then sat down next to the private. "Morning Sergeant." He said monotone. "Morning Fergus." Karl responded. "Sergeant, you got family back home?" He asked with some jump in his tone.

"Why of course I have family back home Fergus. If you don't have family 'back home' then you are an orphan." Karl said quietly, to not wake up the others.

"Never thought of it that way, do you think we will all make it back?" He looked at Karl, almost like he could see through Karl's visor.

"If you fight hard, move fast, every man and woman in this platoon will survive. The man that got wounded yesterday sat still." Karl responded whole heartedly.

"Never thought of it that way Sergeant, thank for the reassurance." He said softly.

"No problem, just make sure you kick ass and take names." Karl smiled under his visor and put a hand on Stevenson's shoulder and stood up.

Fergus nodded as Karl walked off around the rest of the platoon. He kicked everyone in the side and quietly said "get up" to everyone he passed. He then walked over the Stevenson who was already awake and eating MRE, which Karl would have guessed was his breakfast.

"Okay L.T. What's the plan today." Karl said seriously as he kneeled down next to him.

Stevenson swallowed the food he was chewing then looked up at Karl. "We are going to find more of those landing zones and take them out, one by one until the UNSC landing fleet gets here."

"So, we are getting reinforcements?" Karl asked.

"Yep, it's going to be a war zone here in a few days, maybe about 2 to 3 weeks there will be marines and Army here alike." Stevenson responded as he took another bite.

"Copy, I'll get the men ready sir." Karl said as he stood, this time he felt a jab at his ribs and grunted.

He shook off the pain and walked to all the men. He walked over and quietly said over comms, "Gear up, we are moving out in 30 minutes, eat your breakfast ration and stretch, it's going to be a long walk."

Karl stood around making sure to keep an eye out as everyone was eating and getting ready. As he looked up into the sky he saw a phantom fly overhead and into the distance. Luckily they were covered somewhat by the tree line and it seemed the alien craft did not spot them. He kept looking around until one by one the other men were done and started to stand up, ready for battle. He looked over all of them, tall or short. Skinny or muscular, they all had one thing in similar. They were all soldiers ready to fight.

"Here is the deal guys." He heard Stevenson's voice over comms. "We are going to get an medivac for Peacock, we are going to set a LZ for the pelican that will lift him out of here and back to orbit."

"Alright let's go. Set a perimeter around." He said and then everyone listened.

Karl decided to stick with 1st squad of the platoon. He kneel'd next to the sergeant and looked at him. "Hey, hey, Kuhn, what's up?" He said in a cheery tone.

"Ah nothing much Joker. Just sticking with your squad while we wait for the evac." Karl said in his usual, not so cheery tone. He was called Joker because most the platoon thought he was a psychopath considering he let out a small chuckle every time he killed an enemy.

"Coolio, thought we could have the platoon bad ass in our squad, it's an honor." Joker said happily and looked over at Karl. "No primary?"

"Nope, lost it when the grav hammer flung it into the middle of god damn nowhere." Karl said begrudgingly.

"Well fuck, that sucks, you good with the mag?" He asked.

"Yep, killed more with this thing throughout the entire war than the navy has killed covie ships." He said with some humor in his tone."

"Haha I bet, I was never in the war. But I have seen combat before, one of the few in this platoon." Joker said and chuckled at the end of his sentence.

"That's good, we need some seasoned men in here." Karl nodded to him.

"Thanks, I always li-" They were cut off by the sudden flash of a needle wizzing past them and hitting and sticking into a tree next to them.

"Covies! Direct front! Bearing 190!" Joker screamed to his squad and pointed his rifle forward.

Immediately the squad machine gunner started to open fire, suppressing the woods and slamming into everything that got in the way, trees or flesh. Karl ducked behind a log they were hiding behind and made sure his magnum was chambered, which it was. He popped up from cover and took aim down the optics of the magnum, finding the head of a jackal with a needle rifle. Karl pulled the trigger and countered the kick with all his might, as the pistol jerked he quickly saw the jackal's head jerk back as half of it's face was blown right off it's body.

Karl then took aim at another target, another jackal. He did the same thing and the jackal suffered the same fate, except it didn't even squawk as it fell to the jungle floor. Soon after what seemed like hundreds of grunts started to run out of the forest towards them.

"Jesus fucking christ!" He heard a random private scream. "Fuck em up Kova!" He heard Joker yell, then he watched as the machine gunner turned and started to unload rounds into the grunts, blooding flying every where and screams of pain as bullets ripped into them. Karl popped up again and unloaded the rest of his magazine into the charging grunts.

"First squad, what's going on over there!" He heard Stevenson's voice worried over the comms.

"Hundreds of covies! Too many, we need support." Joker yelled back.

"Solid copy, sending second squad to assist!" Stevenson said and then got off comms.

Karl loaded a new magazine into his magnum quickly and cleanly then popped up again and shot a few more of them. But what came as a surprise to him was the giant green ball of a fuel rod cannon flying towards them. "Cover!" Karl yelled as it flew towards them. He jumped away and covered his head as the fuel rod round smashed into the log and blew it in two pieces and shards of wood and plasma flew all over the place.

He looked over and saw the Corporal Kova didn't budge, he sat with his machine gun now prone and started opening fire again. This time shooting into the area the fuel rod came from. Karl crouched and aimed his magnum where it came from to see a brute chieftain. 'Not another one' Karl thought and frowned. He then shot a few rounds into it which harmlessly bounced off of the shields it had.

Karl sighed and deployed his energy sword and stood up. Joker looked at Karl. "Kova! Covering fire for Sergeant Kuhn, now!" Joker yelled, "Yes sergeant!" Kova screamed over the gunfire and aimed towards the grunts again and started firing at them, suppressing them.

Karl took a deep breath and started sprinting towards the brute, which had spotted him. It aimed the fuel rod towards Karl and fired it. Karl reacted quickly and rolled to the side, dodging the explosion that hit where he just stood. He stood up again quickly and charged towards the brute, going as fast as his legs could take him. He saw a rock in perfect position to propel himself onto the brute and ran towards it just as another fuel rod smashed behind him. Karl ran to the rock and put one foot on it and then pushed himself hard and the next thing he knew he was a few feet in the air. He held the sword to the side and put his legs forward, kicking the brute onto the ground and Karl landing on top of him.

He stabbed the sword onto the brute's chest, eliminating the shields with a hiss. The brute growled and punched Karl in the side, already where he was bruised. Karl grunted as he flew off the brute's chest. Karl quickly sat up and saw the brute grab some sort of spear off it's back and deploy it, almost like an energy sword except it was a spear, it looked pretty terrifying to Karl. The brute started to circle Karl and he started to circle it, waiting for someone to make a first move.

"Petty human, you cannot beat me." The brute said in broken English, his booming voice over the sounds of combat.

"Say that to the one I killed yesterday you fucking animal." Karl growled as he charged at the brute. It expertly swung the spear at Karl, which Karl quickly blocked and used his other hand to unsheathe his knife and quickly stab it into the brute's leg. It roared and then grabbed Karl with it's other hand and threw him a few meters back into a tree. Karl let out a scream of pain as his back slammed into the tree. He sat up and cracked it and instantly felt better. But the brute was already charging him and he quickly rolled out of the way as the spear sliced the tree, completely cutting it down.

As the tree slammed into the ground behind him Karl got up and slashed at the Brute's leg and he heard the loud hiss sound as the sword cut it's leg armor but not it's flesh. Then the spear was already coming at him which he blocked quickly. Karl swung at him again and this time the brute side stepped and stabbed at him, Karl was too late and the spear went straight into his abdomen. "Fuck!" Karl screamed as the burning pain entered his body. Karl quickly slashed at the brute's arm with his sword and heard the sickening hiss and burning flesh as he completely cut off it's arm.

Karl quickly pulled the spear out of his stomach as the brute roared in pain and held it's arm. Then suddenly he felt himself get picked up and thrown at least 10 meters and slammed into another tree. He yelped in pain as he felt his back hit yet another tree. He got up, this time his back hurting more than he wanted. He looked over to see who had thrown him and saw a second brute chieftain.

'Ah fuck me.' Karl thought as he picked up his sword that fell out of his hand and deployed it. The brute charged him full speed, more than what Karl liked and swung at him with a great sword style of energy weapon. Karl rolled out of the way and slashed at it's leg, the hiss symbolized he had hit something. He then heard the roar as the brute turned and swung again. Karl barely blocking it with his own weapon, but the force pushing him down. Then already another swing at him. He rolled out of the way on the ground as the sword smashed into the dirt.

Karl jumped up and blocked another attack from the brute and then used his own attack on the brute's leg. His sword hissed loudly and he could smell the burning flesh as his weapon entered the brute's upper thigh near the hip. He the quickly pulled it out as the brute kneel'd and stabbed it into it's throat. The sickening hiss as it burned the flesh. Karl then swished the sword to the side and decapitated the large brute.

He breathed heavily and bent over on his knees. The pain in his back and abdomen unbearable. But as he looked up to walk back because the gunfire started to stop he heard a roar and all the sudden he was taken off his feet and flying hundreds of meters. He couldn't help but let out a scream as he flew off a hillside and slammed into the ground and immediately started to roll and fly out of control. Slamming into any object his body could hit.

He felt his head slam into a rock and his visor cracked, his HUD now going wild, red lights flashing and critical messages every where. Karl felt his back slam into a tree and he groaned in pain as an all too audible crack sounded. He groaned as the pain shot through his body, and kept rolling. He tried to move his legs but couldn't, he used his arms to try and gain control of himself. His body still flipping and flying all over the place. He felt his hand finally catch something and grabbed hold of a loose root.

He took a breath and scanned his surroundings. Once again trying to move his legs, they didn't move. He looked up and saw how far he had rolled down the hill, probably hundreds of meters, it would take hours to climb back up, especially without his legs. He looked down and saw a small stream below himself and his energy sword sitting next to the water on the sandy bank. At this point it would be better to go down than up so he started to slowly climb down, trying his legs every few seconds, but they seemed like noodles he couldn't move.

He moved slowly, every movement he made almost feeling like a car hitting his back. He made it to the bottom and felt the soft sand on his back and heard the quiet sound of the creek flowing through this valley. His cracked helmet making it hard to see anything, but he didn't want to move. He just laid there and gently stroked the sand with his fingers. The feeling something he had never felt before and it was wonderful.

He looked around and his eyes fell upon his energy sword again. He slowly flipped himself, a surge of pain going through his back again. "Ahh! Fuck!" He couldn't help but yell outloud. The pain was unbelievable, his back, his abdomen and almost every bone in his entire body felt like he had been hit by a moving train. He placed his elbows in the sand and started to drag himself to the sword, his legs moving like small weights behind him. He got to it and picked it up, he placed it on his belt and then looked at the river. He dragged himself to the side, the sound of it very peaceful and calming. He grabbed his canteen and slid off his helmet, tons of sweat and small scratches with blood flowing out of them. Glass from his broken visor digging into his skin.

He put his face in the water and washed off his face, the cold water feeling like heaven to his feverish face and open wounds. He used his hands to rub his face, getting the glass out of his face. He took his face out then laid back on his back, it felt much better than laying on his stomach. He looked up into the bright blue sky, it had a few white clouds here and there, he swore one was shaped like a sky scraper. He grunted as he moved to grab his first aid kit.

He took it and quickly took out a morphine injector and stabbed it into his arm. Immediately he felt the pain start to fade and let out a sigh of relief. His head gently moving around, looking at his surroundings.

He took hold of his helmet and put it back on, his HUD now completely off. But he could try the comms. He gently tapped the button on the side of his helmet, "Kuhn to platoon, Kuhn to platoon..." He said in a voice he had never heard himself have before, it was shaky and almost like he was nervous to talk to a girl, or if he was freezing to death. "I read you Kuhn, where the fuck are you?" Stevenson came over the comms. "I-in some valley, with white sand next to a stream, I can't move my legs... I'm s-stuck sir. I'm sorry." Karl felt his voice become shaky, like he wanted to cry. He couldn't help himself but thoughts of himself never being able to do anything again fled his mind, becoming a vegtable, he never wanted to have to be like that.

"I'm so sorry si-" Karl was cut off by the sound of a soft voice. "It's okay Kuhn, we are coming to get you and we will bring you home." Stevenson said in a caring tone. "Y-yes sir." Karl cut off comms and continued to stare up at the bright blue sky. It reminded him too much of Berlin, damn he missed that place.

He kept gently caressing the sand he loved how it felt between his fingers. He had never felt sand, he had never been to a beach before. He loved how it felt and wanted to feel it the rest of his life, however long that was. He felt his eyes become heavy and tried to keep them open, almost like his body wanted him to sleep, it wanted him to go into the darkness. For the first time in his life Karl had no control over his body, like it was finally all too glad to take over because he was weak. It reminded him of a King being attacked by a lord because the King was losing power.

He chuckled at this and had a stupid smile on his face as he thought about a puny lord being able to take down a poor King because the King was a dumb ass who somehow fucked up real bad, and how ironic the thought was. He sighed and just watched as clouds moved by, staying awake for as long as he could. He felt like crying so badly. He couldn't control it, but he kept it back because he knew it would only make it worse, because crying makes your body jerk and stomach move, and it would hurt too badly to cry, then he would cry more.

He watched each cloud pass and tried to guess what it could be, it reminded him as if he was a kid again, paralyzed looking up at the sky, something he had always admired. He had always dream't going into the vastness of space, his dream came true, but the cost was his life, he had signed a contract with the devil as soon as he had joined the ODST. He had known the costs, but he did it anyway. Now a 30 year old man, not married, no kids, his only loyalties had been with the UNSC, never to a spouse or girlfriend or even his mother and little sister.

He felt some regret flow into him, how he had never tried to live a life like a normal human being, then he thought how if he was a military man with a stay at home wife, what if he had died? Like his own father did and left his family alone, nothing but a widow and fatherless children. He realized then his relationships with Soya probably meant nothing, or maybe it did have some value. A human and an alien was probably never heard of before. He sighed as he thought about it, all he could do right now was think, something he always enjoyed doing.

He then heard the quiet hum of something flying, whether it was UNSC or covenant, he didn't care, they would probably think he was dead anyways. But as it came into view and the engine was louder he saw the outline of a human ship, it was a Falcon. flying low along the river, it was probably searching for him. As soon as it was about 100 meters away it started to slow down and go at a vertical hover. It then started to slowly come forward towards him. He looked at it as best as he could, only making him want to go home worse.

It came to a halt about 10 meters away along the bank of the river and landed, the propellers kicking up dust and dirt. He then watched as two marines jumped out with a stretcher, the marines having red and white vests, meaning they were medics. He looked and watched them and two more marines jumped out, this time being ODST, and he could tell they were from his unit. As the medics neared they put the stretcher down and both of them went over and kneel'd next to him.

"Can you talk sergeant?" One of them asked in a hurry as they slid off his helmet and put a neck brace on him.

"Y-yes." He said in a weak croaky voice, almost like he forgot how to talk.

"Can you tell us your injuries if possible?" The same medic asked as they gently picked him up and placed him on the stretcher.

"Legs, they won't work. Stabbed in the abdomen, everything hurts." He said just as weakly.

"Alright, thank you sergeant." They picked him up and brought him to the falcon and put him in, strapping himself onto the stretcher and then strapping it down on the falcon.

He recognized the two men in his unit. It was Garrison and Laroche. they just looked at him, he had never thought of himself in this position. Laroche and Garrison nodded to him and then held onto handles as the Falcon lifted to the air. It flew quickly a few hundred meters above the jungle canopy. Karl watched as best he could since his neck was stationary. He then saw the USS Viper come into view. It was out of orbit and in the planet's atmosphere.

At this point Karl couldn't keep his eyes open anymore and finally let sleep overtake him now that he was safe and back in UNSC hands. As he drifted off he hope that it would all be over soon so he could be back in action helping these men that he had been traveling with the last year or so, he sure would miss him while he was getting fixed up.

Unknown amount of time later:

Karl's eyes opened slowly. He could feel that he was on a soft bed. He looked around the room he was in and he could tell it was an infirmary. The white walls and medical machines. He looked down and saw he was under some covers. He sighed and saw his arms on his sides, with several tubes jabbed into them. He once again tried to move his legs, they still didn't move. He started to panic, knowing everything that had happened was real, and he really was screwed.

He heard the machine beep a couple times and a nurse quickly walked in, a young woman wearing a normal medical gown. "Mr. Kuhn, please don't panic, a doctor will be in soon to explain everything to you." She said softly.

Karl nodded and calmed down a little, but was still very on edge, and somewhat angry.

The nurse smiles warmly and then leaves the room. A few minutes of sitting still after and a doctor, maybe in his fifties or sixties walks in, wearing a UNSC officers uniform under a doctor's coat with a name patch that said 'Green'.

"Good morning Sergeant Kuhn." The doctor said as he looked at a tablet and seemed to type a few things into it. He then took a seat in a chair next to Karl.

"Morning sir." Karl said as he looked at him with a slight frown on his face.

"No need to be grumpy." The doctor looked at him and smiled.

"How long was I out for doc?" Karl said somewhat weakly, he rubbed his throat and felt how dry it was.

"You were out for two and a half weeks in a medical coma, we had no choice, the few surgeries we did fixed several broken bones in your arm and about 4 broken bones all long your leg. But they are healed now." The doctor said and smiled.

"My legs, why can't I move them." Karl said with his frown still apparent.

"You are... paralyzed. The spine we were not able to fix. I am sorry. We are looking into it to see if we can do something." The doctor said, his face somber, like he just told Karl his family was murdered.

Karl clenched his teeth and clenched his hands. His face scrunched. "Okay, yes sir." He said as strongly as he could.

"You served the UNSC well enough boyo, I am sure there is more you can do for them, but other than that you cannot do anything for a long while." The doctor said softly, "But as I said, there is a small chance we can still do something." He smiles.

"I understand. Can I just be left alone." Karl said as he relaxes a little.

"Yes of course. Just call me if you need anything." The doctor sits up and walks out of the room.

The room was completely quiet, other than the soft beeping of the medical machine tracking his heartbeat. He looked around the room and saw a small note on the desk, he picked it up and also saw a water bottle. He took that as well and opened it and quickly chugged the whole thing down, he then tossed it into the trash can next to his bed and looked at the note.

He read through it.

 _Karl, it's Sarah, I got a call while I was at the embassy, me and Soya heard about your injuries and came by, we knew you weren't awake but it was nice to see your face again, but I hated how beat up it was and when we were told you were not able to walk Soya started to cry. I'm not even joking, like full on cry. She seems to care for you very much. When you wake up let us know so when you get released from the hospital we can take you to your new house. That's right your new house. It is a high rise apartment in the center of Berlin, but don't worry it has an elevator so getting to your apartment is no worry. Thanks to your service and hard work the UNSC decided to hand it to you on a golden platter. Lucky. Well, call us when you wake up, we will take you home._

 _Love,_

 _Sarah Brandy_

 _p.s. Visited your parents and told them the news, they were sad but glad you are alive._

He put the note down and rubbed his temples, he had a blistering headache, probably from being dehydrated. He sighed and closed his eyes, letting thoughts freely into his mind to keep himself calm. However long this was going to take Karl knew he had to power through it, no matter what. He did not want to give up, he would fight this fight like he did in every combat situation, with prowess and strength and mental positivivity. Although this was not combat, he would treat it like it.


	5. Chapter 4: A New Opportunity(Life Update

_3 Months after the incident._

Karl sat in a doorway in his apartment, there was a metal bar hanging across the doorway. He had his hands backwards on it and his fingers clenched tightly, his muscles in his arms straining as they lifted his body up and down, he went about chin height to it before lowering himself to about his forehead. Sweat was leaking from his face and armpits as he was on his 70th or so lift. His thin white shirt having obvious sweat stains near his armpits and collar.

He heard the soft chatter of the two girls in his living room other than his grunts as pain started to hit his arms. That was when he stopped and carefully lowered himself back onto his wheelchair. His arms feeling the sweet relief of no more strain. After a few seconds of letting his arms retain their blood flow he gripped the rails around the wheels and pushed himself forward, moving to the kitchen which had large windows all across the side of it, giving him an amazing view of the city. The early morning light shining into the room and lighting it up fully.

He stopped by at the counter and grabbed a half empty bottle of water. After he felt it was room temperature he groaned and maneuvered himself to the fridge at the far left end nearest the windows. He opened it up and plopped the bottle of water inside and scanned it for any better drinks. He rubbed his clean shaven chin as he looked around. That's when he found it. A full bottle of water and when he grabbed it, it was nice and cool. He quickly ripped it open and gulped it down, the nice feeling of the cool water filling his throat instantly put a relief to his harsh morning workout routine.

"Karl?! Can you come in here a sec?" He heard the voice of Brandy shout from the living room.

He sighed heavily and looked up at the ceiling. "Yes, one second." He said in a half shout back and put the water between his legs and backed up to close the fridge.

He turned himself around quickly and wheeled himself through the entry way that had his lift bar and then there was a hallway about 10 meters long, with two doors on both sides in the middle which were the bedrooms. He went all the way across and into the living room, as he entered Brandy and Soya were sitting on the couch that was on the other side of the room on the corner on the top left, in the center of the living room was the front door.

Upon further inspection they were both sitting on the couch and looking at his PDA, which he had only given access to Soya, so he was curious what she was showing to Brandy.

"What are you doing?" He asked in a somewhat curious and frustrated tone.

"You got a wonderful email Karl!" Soya bursted out in a very excited tone.

"Oh? What is it about?" Karl asked intrigued as he wheeled himself over to their sides and Soya instantly handed him his pda excitedly. He barely got a hold of it and he turned it around and started to read it.

"You stink Karl, you going to take a shower after you read it?" Brandy said jokingly. Karl just frowned and kept reading.

 ** _UNSC Department of the Navy and Marine Corps._**

 ** _Direct Email Message to First Sergeant Karl T. Kuhn._**

 ** _To be Read and understood in reply by May 15th, 2554._**

 _To First Sergeant Karl Tanner Kuhn of the 1st Planetside Recon Company._

 _We were informed of your injuries sustained on the field during an operation on planet Junta 2, a planet still being contested in these coming months after you found Covenant Contact._

 _Us at the Spartan IV Program for the UNSC have not let your bravery in combat from planet Reach to New Mombasa go un-noticed. Especially your wits in revealing the corrupt bureaucrats in ONI. As a fellow soldier I understand the struggle we all go through daily, and the injuries you faced that could have been career ending could be healed in this program. If you accept you will be assigned into the second class of trainees that will be going through the training after the augmentations, which will heal your back and let you go into combat again._

 _We cannot guarantee the augmentations will heal you, but after many tests on others like you who have proven themselves it has worked. We hope to see your reply soon, as if you don't reply you will not be offered this again._

 **Written Personally by, Admiral Margaret Parangosky.**

Karl lowered the PDA for a second and rubbed his chin. Not sure of what to think of what he just read. He could get his legs back for sure and be able to go and fight again, but was he willing to do that? Was he willing to leave the people he cared about most to go and fight again.

He was enjoying the peaceful life for once, now that he was getting used to it anyways.

"You know this means I will just leave again, right Soya?" He looked up at her with a straight face.

Soya sighed heavily and her mandibles twitched, "Yes, I am aware. But, I want you to walk again, and I know you want to walk again."

"It's up to you Karl, either way it's a win lose situation, you decline you never walk again, you accept, you walk but leave her again." Brandy said firmly, her brutal honesty hitting him like a freight train.

"Yea I know... I'm just, trying to take it all in. 3 Months I have been borderline vegetable, and I don't want to be anymore. Soya you will be gone on long diplomatic missions anyways, could you possibly get one while I am gone, so you won't be here alone all day." Karl said more straightforwardly than he would have liked.

"Oh silly, I won't be alone Brandy comes here all the time, I will have her to talk to. I want you to walk again badly." Soya said happily as he mandibles made a makeshift smile.

"Pffft, want him to walk? Please, since his lower body stopped working his d-." Before Brandy could say it Karl had chunked his water bottle at her but Brandy swiftly caught it. "Oh Karl I am just fucking with you." Brandy giggles as she winks at him.

"What did she mean by that Karl?" Soya asked curiously.

"Nothing Soya, it's just some things don't work properly down there anymore." Karl sighs heavily.

"I know your legs don't work." Soya said as she looked at him with some frustration.

"I know you do, but uhm. Never mind we can talk about it way later." Karl said as he glared at Brandy as he rolled away to think privately in his room.

He moved to his room and opened the door swiftly then rolling inside and closing it behind him softly, so he did not give off any signals he was frustrated. In all honesty he was feeling more frustrated than he had ever felt, he had never had to make a hard decision like this before, even leaving his family to join the UNSC wasn't as hard as this was. Since Soya and Brandy were pretty much his family, even Leo, who visited occasionally when he wasn't out killing covenant Pirates.

Karl rubbed his temples as the PDA sat on his lap, the screen still shining brightly in his dark room, the blinds closed preventing light from getting in.

He finally picked it up after a few minutes of thinking and began to type, after typing in his serial code and password so they knew he was the real Karl he typed his message.

 _MESSAGE READ AND UNDERSTOOD:_

 _Thank you for this opportunity into the Spartan IV program, it sounds like something I am very interested in. I will be accepting you offer to join the program, just give me a time and date and I will arrive at the location for whatever you will tell me to do._

 _This is the opportunity of a lifetime, I won't turn it down._

Karl pressed the send button and leaned back and sighed heavily. He knew this decision will probably change his life forever, and he will never have the same body again. He was guessing the augmentations would change his body forever, but he hoped they would not change his mind.

He liked himself and how he had changed throughout the years and didn't want it to be ruined.

 **Hey guys, just a little message. School is FINALLY OVER. I passed with amazing grades. This will be a little placeholder chapter I will be using as a waiting buff for you guys. No, it wasn't long, but I hope it gives you some insight into the future.**

 **The next chapter will be super long and I am sure it will be very interesting for you guys. And I will have plenty of time in the beginning of the summer, however late summer I will be leaving for a long while, I hope you all understand some of my stories may not be updated for months, but they sure as hell will not be forgotten, and I promise to finish this one before that time at least. I will be writing like crazy to get it out and make sure to let me know of typos, it will not be rushed per say but it will be typed quickly, I have most things thought out of what will happen but I do not have them typed out yet.**

 **I wish you all a great night and hope you enjoyed this small chapter with some sexual innuendos** **( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°).**


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